Supporting Energy Transition and Decarbonisation in District Heating Sector

Introduction

The project aims to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonization of district heating (DH) in four targeted Eastern European countries through the integration of low-grade heat sources in high-temperature DH networks.

Project Concept

The overall concept is to trigger tangible investment projects through the direct involvement of DH companies and relevant stakeholders in a collaborative planning process. This process aims at:

• Sharing ideas
• Joint development of replicable model investment projects

Knowledge Transfer and Stakeholder Mobilization

The project will feature a significant transfer of knowledge from numerous previous EU and national projects and the mobilization of stakeholders. It includes tailored activities focusing on:

1. Filling knowledge gaps
2. Developing necessary skills and competences
3. Stakeholder outreach
4. Extensive communication, dissemination, and exploitation

Collaborative Development

Project partners and key stakeholders will collaboratively develop technical and non-technical solutions for follower DH companies and the sector.

Direct Support to DH Companies

The project will directly support four DH companies, which operate high-temperature DH systems, in the preparation of investment plans to fulfill the revised criteria for ‘efficient district heating and cooling’ defined in the Energy Efficiency Directive for the period from 2026 to 2035. This will pave the way for further developments.

Involvement of DH Systems

The number of DH systems directly involved in the project (owned by project consortium partners) is 20.

Indirect Support and Outputs

The project will also indirectly support other external companies by delivering outputs such as:

• Examples of scalable and replicable solutions
• Model investment projects

Focus on Fossil Fuel Reduction

In particular, the project will focus on a significant reduction in the share of fossil fuel and biomass combustion processes in heat production.

Future Ecosystems

It will also assess possibilities for establishing local ecosystems of DH companies in the future energy market. There will be consideration of the scenario of supporting DH companies in the development of energy storage and sector integration.